NASA to unveil first Chandra telescope images Thursday

The Chandra X-ray telescope drifts away from the space shuttle Columbia after its deployment July 23 INTERACTIVE Clickable Chandra

August 24, 1999
Web posted at: 8:35 a.m. EDT (1235 GMT)

(CNN) -- The first images from NASA's newest space telescope, the $1.5 billion Chandra X-ray Observatory, will be revealed at a media briefing at 1 p.m. EDT Thursday, NASA said.

The images include the spectacular remnants of a supernova and other astronomical objects, the space agency said in a statement Monday.

The orbiting telescope has been undergoing activation and checkout since it was placed into orbit by the space shuttle Columbia in July.

Chandra is designed to study the highest energy radiation sources in the universe, including black holes, colliding galaxies and quasars at the edge of time.

Celestial X-rays beamed down the mirror barrel of the telescope for the first time earlier this month when engineers sent commands that successfully opened the observatory's sunshade door.

Spontaneous applause erupted from managers and controllers clustered around consoles at NASA's Chandra control center in Cambridge, Massachusetts, as data from the observatory confirmed the landmark event.